


It's Not The End of The Story

by glitterminghao



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Inspired by a Conan Gray Song, JunHao - Freeform, M/M, Short One Shot, conan gray is a great writing muse, im sorry i still dont know how to tag, junhui loves his kids, may or may not have a part 2, minghao is only mentioned, sad childhood, woke 8 year olds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24834997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterminghao/pseuds/glitterminghao
Summary: in which junhui re-tells his sob story and gets motivated by 8 year olds
Relationships: Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Kudos: 19
Collections: JunHao Song Inspired Fics





	It's Not The End of The Story

Junhui makes his way to the front of the room where a seat and a table were placed just for him. He had done this a bunch of times before, but having around twenty pairs of eyes looking up at him still makes him nervous. He takes a big breath and puts on his camera-ready smile.

“There were once a boy and a girl.” He starts, and his brain immediately reacts violently. Why should he tell a made-up story about a straight couple when he can just talk about his own life story? The audience won’t know it’s about his life, anyways, and they would surely like a genuine story better.

“They have a very boring story. They both liked each other, got married, lived a happy life without any judgement or prejudice, and died.” Junhui definitely thinks the last part might have been too inappropriate to say, and mentally hits himself on the head for it.

“The end. But not to worry, because I have a better story up my sleeve.” The audience’s faces light up and they all settle back in their seats, the frustration from the previously short and boring story already forgotten.

Junhui thinks back to his life, and starts to re-tell his bitter tale. 

When Junhui was in high school in Haicheng, he had a best friend named Minghao. They did everything together. Waited for each other everywhere, and texted each other every day. Minghao was the first and last person Junhui talked to on a daily basis. Minghao was the person he hung out with every weekend, the only person he ever told about all the times he wanted to die. Minghao was the one. He always was, and always will be. Junhui can still remember all the stupid things that got them in trouble; the happy distant memories that sculpted his golden teenage years. 

They had too many shenanigans to mention, but his favorite was definitely the time when they broke into Minghao’s neighbor’s house on a hot summer day to take a dip in their swimming pool. The house residents were supposed to be away on vacation, but Minghao didn’t know they were coming home that day, and it ended up with them running away from the police station.

They were inseparable. And together, they were a force to be reckoned with. It was just the two of them against the world. 

Junhui always knew he loved Minghao, loved him in a way that friends shouldn’t. He never tried to say anything about his feelings, knowing he’d get backlash from his friends and family, and maybe even from Minghao himself. He swore to take his secret affection to the grave, and swore Minghao he’d never leave his side. That was the closest thing they ever had to a matrimonial vow and Junhui learned to be content with that. 

One high school diploma later, Junhui found himself being forcibly moved to Beijing for college. He never got to say goodbye to Minghao, and never dared to answer his texts knowing he broke his promise. He buried his feelings in his studies, setting aside his loneliness and aching heart to focus on getting his Bachelor’s Degree in Education. 

During these times, he met a girl. They bonded over their similar experiences and he taught her how to cope with her broken heart. Together, they formed a strong friendship. It was nowhere near the one he had with Minghao, but it was enough to relieve him of his loneliness and drive away the cloud that hovered over his head.

Junhui was in the middle of studying for his final exams when he was informed of an arranged marriage between him and his new found friend, set-up by their very own cruel parents. He immediately called her, the feeling of betrayal burning inside his chest. She answered with haste, telling her friend she had no say in it either, that she didn’t know their parents planned such a thing, and reminded him she’s not even interested in men in the first place.

She proposed a plan to get out of the marriage: they’d work part-time jobs and save up until they can run away from their families and the situation at hand, and they’d get to live their lives however they want. Junhui told her it would never work, that their parents would find out, and they’d both be punished for it.

On the other hand, Junhui had to admit that the plan sounded tempting. He’d be able to live his life the way he wants to, be able to do all the things he’d never been allowed to do. Maybe even go back to Haicheng and see if his best friend was still there waiting for him. 

And so Junhui agreed.

For their last two years in college, the two friends worked multiple part-time jobs back to back. They juggled their time between studying and working, never having time to rest. Freedom was their driving force, and they were willing to do anything for it.

Right before graduation, however, their world seemed to have turned upside down. His friend’s father had found out about her secret bank account loaded with the money she worked hard for. Junhui never knew what happened next, for he never saw her at their graduation ceremony, nor did she ever contact him ever again. Someone else had moved into their old house, and all traces of their family had disappeared. It was as if she never existed in the first place. 

Junhui was right about getting caught, but he really wished he wasn’t. 

The arranged marriage was eventually forgotten, and everything went back to normal. But for Junhui, it was better to be married to her than to not have her at all in his life. Just when he had found someone to rely on, a confidant if you may, life had turned its back on him once again. The patched-up hole in his heart had been re-opened, now bigger than it was before. He had never felt more alone than he did at that moment, when he knew he had really lost everything. 

Even now as an adult with a stable source of income and his own studio apartment, Junhui is still afraid of life. He’s afraid of how everything can change for the worse in the blink of an eye. He’s afraid that this is just the way the world works now. You get hurt for being yourself, for being different. He doesn’t even think he’s all that different from other people. He’s still just human. He works hard for his dreams and he falls in love, just not in the way majority of people do. 

But most of all, he’s afraid that there seems to be no happiness left for him in this cruel world.

“But mister! It’s not the end of the story yet!” A little voice from the crowd snaps Junhui back to reality, and he remembers that he’s supposed to be reading a fairytale to the children, not retelling his own personal woes. He gets nervous for a little bit, knowing he’d get in trouble for possibly corrupting the children’s sponge-like minds with his story, until he manages to absorb what the child had shouted.

“It is the end. The story ended with the two friends parting ways, and the main character found happiness in his job.” Junhui interjects, a bit confused as to why the children thought the story is unfinished. 

A small hand raises from the back of the classroom. “No, it’s not!” A student exclaims. “You can still chase after your friend, mister! The story goes on as long as you’re still alive!”  
“Mimi is right! You’ll never know what happens in the end until you go after it!”

In no time, the classroom is filled with cheers and murmurs of approval from the young students.

If Junhui had to be honest, he’d definitely admit he was taken aback by his students’ responses. He didn’t expect his 8-year-old pupils to have such a positive outlook on life, and he definitely didn’t expect them to catch on to the fact that the story is his own real-life tale.

All he could do is chuckle at the sight of his students cheering him on. He definitely loves his job, and he loves the children even more. He becomes hopeful that he might, someday, acquire genuine happiness despite all the hate the world is throwing at him. If little kids can love and accept him for who he is, surely other people can, too. “Okay, fine, you’re all right. The story isn’t finished yet. I’ll go and find out what happens next, and you’ll all be the first people to know. Sound good?” The children cheer and clap, giddy at the promise of being first to know the ending. 

Junhui finally dismisses the class and makes the children line up so they could go home. He makes them pinky promise one by one to not tell their parents about their story-telling session today, for it could get him fired from the job he just had just learned to appreciate. Once all the children have been fetched, he’s left inside an empty but messy classroom. That was the first time Junhui had ever told anyone about his life story, and remembering it brings back all the pain he went through. But he meant what he said, that his students were right. It’s not the end. He gets to decide what happens next, and without knowing it, he already knows what his next step would be.

“Just wait and see, Minghao.” Junhui whispers as he looks out the classroom window and onto the sunkissed garden. “It’s not the end of the story.”

**Author's Note:**

> story based on "the story" by conan gray


End file.
